Someone put Bella, the elderly boxer, down a hole near Eglinton, Londonderry, United Kingdom. According to The Derry Journal , Kenny Bideau kept the boxer at his own home overnight after his daughter, Cara, heard the boxer crying from underground and he rescued the dog from the hole she was in.
The Bideaus temporarily named her “Bella.” The dog’s previous name is not known, if she was ever named at all. The next day, Bideau took the boxer to a rescue organization in Londonderry that was founded by his aunt, who believes she was a victim of a puppy mill operation. Kenny’s aunt, Helen Davies, said: “The dog was so exhausted it slept all night on Kenny’s sofa, while his son stayed on the other sofa to keep an eye on her.”
The Rainbow Rehoming Centre’s reported :
“Last night Rainbow received a call from a very concerned member of the public in the Drumahoe area of Derry/Londonderry. His daughter had been out playing and that heard a dog crying down a hole. Reacting to what his daughter had told him he went to look only to discover in horror that an elderly boxer had been dumped down a hole and covered over with planks of wood & bricks.”
The boxer is totally blind and one of her eyes is extremely ulcerated. Bella requires significant veterinary care. Her teeth are cracked and she is in extreme discomfort. She is very emaciated. The suspect is most likely someone who has bred the boxer repeatedly as she has physical evidence of over-breeding.
Bella has injuries to her nipples from the extreme breeding and the veterinary team that cared for her said she is at risk for a very serious and life-threatening uterine infection called pyometra. Veterinary eye specialist Dr. Isabel Buehler has offered a free consultation to see if there is anything that can be done to help the elderly boxer with her vision. Bella’s other health issues are being cared for. Bella is currently in an animal foster home.
The rescue organization is now on the hunt for the person that left the old boxer in the hole to die. It is likely whoever did this to Bella has other dogs suffering under their lack-of-care. The Rainbow Rehoming Centre believes the public may be able to help locate the person who put the elderly boxer, Bella, into this hole with no ability to escape.
The organization said that because she has been bred so many times, many people in Londonderry may have purchased Bella’s pups from pet shops that used her breeder. Given the condition Bella was in, it is unlikely that the public purchased any puppies directly from the breeder.
Across the pond in Illinois, legislators are trying to make it illegal for irresponsible breeders to make money selling puppies, while ignoring the care and compassion that should be given to the animals that are actually bred, according to WQAD News. Protection against “puppy mills,” like the one Bella was presumably a part of, has been underway in many areas for years. Inquisitr reported in 2011 that Toronto officials even ordered pet stores to stop purchasing from inhumane dog breeders.
The rescue organization says there are a few ways you can help Bella. Donations for the boxer that was discovered dying in a hole can be made via the PayPal button at the top of their Facebook page or on their website “‘ways to help’ tab.” Most importantly, if anyone has any clues that may help locate the person who put Bella, the elderly Boxer who spent her life as a breeding machine, down a hole to die, they are being urged to contact the organization at once.